In the marketing of fluids, particularly in the marketing of consumable beverages, it has always been desirable to package the beverages so that they may be readily distributed to the market place and at the same time preserve their natural qualities, such as flavor and carbonation levels, until opened to be consumed. While this type of marketing has been successful in the marketing of beverages in the conventional twelve fluid ounce containers, difficulties have been encountered in maintaining the product qualities of beverages packaged in larger containers once they have been initially opened. Recently, soft drink manufacturers have been marketing beverages in containers having fluid capacities of two or three liters. However, in some cases in order to preserve carbonation after the container has been opened, it is necessary to provide excess carbonation at the time the product is packaged. The equivalent internal pressures generated in the container with these carbonation levels can reach 55 psig at room temperature and 110 psig at 110.degree. F. While some success has been obtained, even the use of excess carbonation levels does not prevent product quality degradation if the product is not consumed within a relatively short time after initial opening. In addition, the decay in product quality becomes more apparent as the container approaches empty. The characteristics associated with beer would not permit beer to be marketed under such packaging techniques.
Some attempts have been made in the past years to market beverages, and in particular beer, in containers having capacities of about two and one-quarter gallons which capacity is equivalent to one case of twenty-four twelve ounce cans. These attempts generally involved the use of strong, expensive metallic containers and means for pressurizing the container to dispense the fluid therefrom. In view of the expenses involved, these containers had to be returned to the place of purchase and/or manufacture. Also, these containers were bulky and required excessive space for storage in a conventional home refrigerator. For the foregoing and other reasons, this type of marketing of beer was not successful. Therefore, it has long been desired to be able to market that quantity of beverage, two and one-fourth gallons, in a safe, non-toxic, low pressure container which requires the use of no external additional equipment, maintains the quality of the beverage over the entire dispensing life and is readily disposable.
For many years, one of the more acceptable ways to market beverages, such as draught beer, has been in kegs. Since the shape of a keg of beer is so well recognized, it would be desirable to market a disposable package for holding a case of beer in a container having the form of a keg. However, this presents problems since it is desirable that the disposable package of beer be capable of storage in a unit, such as a household refrigerator, so that it will be desirable to have the keg in a horizontal rather than the conventional upright position. This presents a problem since a keg in a horizontal position has a tendency to roll. Also, since a dispensing means is necessary to get the beer out of the container, special packaging is required to maintain the disposable package in a relatively fixed position so that the dispensing means is readily available and in a position to be used. In addition to the foregoing, the entire package must be as light as possible and provided with suitable means to facilitate transportation and placement at desired locations.